Posted by Shuva Brata Deb (Hyderabad, India) on 12 February 2007 in People & Portraits.
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Last Saturday morning while reading the paper over my breakfast, there was this article on photographers who are totally blind. It talked about an exhibition featuring 9 blind photographers featured at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
This lead me to think and I was wondering how life would be if I was blind. I had different "incomplete-answers" for the case if I was blind from birth and if I turned blind now. I then did a little search on the net and this is what I found.
They use their ears to guide them, by listening carefully they find out how far the subject is away from them and in which direction. For example to take a picture of a person they shoot when they hear laughter. There is a huge difference if the photographer was born blind or not. Its the difference between heaven and earth. When we take pictures we know the direction of the light, but they dont. The view finder is useless for them. The next important thing, they can never judge for themselves how the picture came. They cant see their own work. But there exists lot of work done in this direction to help them shoot and review their own work. A google serach would reveal very amazing and unbelievable methdologies that applies here.
The newspaper article also said that blind-photographers have discovered that holding the camera touching the forehead, like a third eye, was the most convenient way to stabilize it.
Its truely amazing to learn about them and see some of their pictures. I dedicate this picture of mine to all the blind photographers who are using senses and stimuli that people like you and me cant even think to imagine.
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Nice post processing. I like the idea of capturing the photographer himself.
12 Feb 2007 1:28am
Awesome photo and wonderful story to go with it. I saw yesterday on TV (or maybe read about it in the newspaper...) an item about a young boy who was blind from the age of three, but his mother treated him just like everyone else, including letting him ride his bike, eat with knife and fork, and cross the road without accompaniment. She believed that he should be treated as if he was sighted, and as a result he learned to use his other senses to compensate, and even said that he could see things like buildings and so on. The scientists studying him said that he had learned to use echolocation (the sounds that bounce of things in the environment) much in the way that dolphins do. I love the use of blur and B&W processing in this shot - makes me think of how blind photographers must scan their environment to 'see'.
12 Feb 2007 2:06am
I am fun of panic! You did it without post processing if yes tell us about?
12 Feb 2007 3:22am
@Petros: No, it was with post processing. I used the Filter->Blur-->Motion Blur. Then used the history brush over the face and the camera.
Excellent dedication Shuva. Your blur & bw pps is superb.
12 Feb 2007 4:12am
T_T so touching...Now I am more humble now,and thank you for that as a reminder ! Good job,Shuva !
Lovely post Shuva, very touching.
12 Feb 2007 9:48am
Beautiful image!
12 Feb 2007 10:05am
Great shot shuva, fine commentary and thanks for the info. Incredible stuff.
12 Feb 2007 10:37am
beaucoup de dynamisme dans cet effet
12 Feb 2007 12:10pm
It is really nice to know abt the blind photographers. The good part is world has accepted them & there is going to be an exhibition of their works. This makes us to take better pictures. Thanks for the information. This motion blur gives little panning effect.
12 Feb 2007 2:30pm
Thank you for the info about blind photographers - it makes me very grateful that I can see what I am shooting and see the results. I think it is a great post processing job, although I would prefer a motion blur created in the camera.
12 Feb 2007 7:56pm
Unbelievable!! you have a link of that article?! which newspaper?
13 Feb 2007 1:30am
@Prashanth: Times of India, 10th Feb 2007. Here are some URLs that I went through:
PhotoGuide--Invisible power Alternate Photography--Challenged Visions
Watched the film Ray which depicted the life of the blind musician Ray Charles. But blind photographers, now that is mind-blowing! Like the processing.
18 Feb 2007 7:29am
PREVIEW ONLY
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